When one in eight Australians have put off getting, or gone without, a prescribed medication in the last 12 months because the drug would cost more than they could afford, it is fair to say the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is not working as intended.
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In addition to shortening lives, causing individuals unnecessary pain and suffering and adding to the burden on working families who have seen incomes fall in real terms over the same period, needlessly unaffordable medications add to the overall cost of national health care.
People afflicted by serious and chronic sickness who don't comply with the pharmaceutical regime outlined by their doctor often get sick very quickly. A manageable illness, which could and should have been treated in the home environment, can soon escalate to the point where expensive hospitalisation is required.
The Grattan Institute, which has been following this issue for some time, said on Monday Australians were still paying far more for many prescription drugs than citizens of many other countries around the world.
Their latest report, which follows two earlier studies, one in 2013 and one in 2015, has called for immediate reforms to the PBS's "price disclosure" policy and to its "therapeutic group premium policy".
The price disclosure policy, introduced in 2007 in a bid to cut the costs of generics, those drugs that are no longer covered by a patent, is no longer delivering the savings to either the tax payers who fund the PBS or the consumers at the level anticipated it found.
As a result, according to the report, "the Commonwealth Government is overpaying for generic medicines that are no longer covered by patents... the government should benchmark the prices of generic medicines in Australia against prices paid overseas".
The therapeutic group premium policy, which dates back to 1998, was intended to stop money being wasted on subsidising more expensive drugs which have the same therapeutic outcomes as lower cost alternatives with a different chemical makeup.
"Australia's therapeutic group premium policy is weak and getting weaker," the report said. "Strengthening the policy as well as extending Australia's relatively small list of therapeutic groups from seven to 18 would, together, save more than $445 million a year."
The bottom line is that as a result of the PBS failings and other factors identified by the Grattan Institute in its three reports over the past four years Australian drug prices are 3.7 times higher across the board than the best international prices.
The impact on individuals can be much greater depending on what they are prescribed.
According to the study "a box of 30 1mg tablets of the breast cancer drug anastrozole (Armidex) costs $19.20 (in Australia). In the UK it is just $2.45".
There is much to think about in the latest Grattan Institute report. Let's all hope the policy makers are listening.
